As the Centre enters its 10th year, what wellbeing evidence, events and updates are in store? Here we highlight some key dates, upcoming news, and findings to look out for, as we complete our current programme of work and look to secure the best legacy for our collective learning before closing in April 2024.
National wellbeing measures and methods
- Life satisfaction research programme – We’ll be releasing a systematic review of the life satisfaction literature to understand what works to improve wellbeing and which policy factors of interest are associated with life satisfaction. The next part of our project will produce a trials strategy for using life satisfaction in experimental research.
- Synthesising practice examples – We’re trialling our methodology to bring together how and why creative projects improve wellbeing with case studies from Spirit of 2012.
- New data about wellbeing in the UK – The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) UK Measures of National Well-being Dashboard will be updated with new data in February 2024. Keep an eye out for our analysis and summary soon after.
- Wellbeing valuation training – The Green Book is the main Treasury guidance for officials and analysts. Look out for training sessions during 2024 on how to implement the recommendations of The Green Book and the supplementary guidance for wellbeing.
Loneliness and connection
- International Conference – Join the Campaign to End Loneliness’ online conference on Thursday 8 February 2024, 10:00 – 17:00. The event will host speakers who are experts in the field of loneliness practice and research from around the world.
- Tackling Loneliness Hub – The Campaign to End Loneliness will continue to run the Hub on behalf of the DCMS until March 2024, bringing together insights from research, policy and practice professionals through blogs, networking sessions and events. You can also access the Campaign’s e-learning modules to help address loneliness at work and in wider communities in the module loneliness explored.
- Social isolation across the life course – Keep an eye out for further findings from our project about social isolation, loneliness and wellbeing over time and between generations. The next part of the work will focus on social connections in midlife, and how they relate to later health, psychological distress and life satisfaction from two cohort studies in 1970 and 1958.
Place and community
- Creativity and wellbeing – We’ll be publishing a rapid scoping review of the evidence on creativity and wellbeing, conducted in partnership with the University of the Arts London. We’ll bring together the evidence into a visual model of how creative mechanisms and contexts can support wellbeing. It builds on the Centre’s work summarising the existing research on the wellbeing benefits of creative activities, such as participatory arts, and volunteering-based programmes.
- Kidney care – We’ll be progressing our project maximising wellbeing in kidney care by shaping new technologies. The aim of this work is to improve kidney patient’s wellbeing and improve job quality for health professionals.
- Community wellbeing in a university – We will continue to support Northumbria University’s work to develop an understanding of what ‘being well together’ means in universities, including qualitative research based on the Centre’s community wellbeing conceptual framework.
Working age
- Burnout in frontline workers – In partnership with local authorities, homelessness charities and the Centre for Homelessness Impact, we will continue to explore what works to improve the wellbeing of frontline workers in the homelessness sector.
- Workplace wellbeing – We’ll be investigating effective ways for businesses to better support people to stay healthy and well in work, and return to work optimally after illness.
- Work and terminal illness – To support employees at the end of life, we recently developed a workplace guide with recommendations for policies and practice. Our Head of Implementation and Learning Joanne Smithson will be talking about the guide as well as discussing supporting and nurturing employees facing terminal illness at CIPD’s Wellbeing at Work conference and Marie Curie’s Research Conference both in February 2024.
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You’ll also be able to find out more about how we’ll be celebrating our impact after almost a decade, concluding our current work, and capturing the collective learning that we hold.
